ACA CONNECTS
ACA Connects has tapped John Higginbotham as executive VP and chief operating officer, responsible for all operations and staff. He had been the independent cable trade group’s EVP of membership and finance.
BAI COMMUNICATIONS
BAI Communications has tapped Andrew McGrath as global chief commercial officer, based in London. He comes from Vodafone, where he was senior VP of Vodafone Carrier Services for the past eight years.
CROWN MEDIA
Hallmark Channel parent Crown Media Family Networks has elevated Jennifer Lee Temple to senior VP, brand design, part of a restructuring creating the Crown Global Brand Group. She was senior VP, print, video & web design.
CROWN MEDIA
Lissa Grunfeld was promoted to VP of brand production
and operations at Crown Media Family Networks, overseeing the Brand Production & Operations Division. She had been VP of design production.
CROWN MEDIA
Crown Media Family Holdings upped Michael Grover to VP of brand marketing, assuming oversight of all marketing campaigns for the programmer. He had
been senior director of marketing.
DAZN
DAZN Group has named Kevin Mayer chairman of its board of directors. Mayer is the former chairman of direct-to-consumer and international at The Walt Disney Co., where he launched Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.
LIVEXLIVE
LiveXLive has named Andy Vick as head of programming and executive VP of StudioOne, the company’s newly formed content division. He was president of virtual reality and immersive entertainment at STX Entertainment.
REVOLT
Revolt Media, the music programmer owned by hip hop star and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs, has elevated Detavio Samuels to CEO. He had been chief operating officer of the company since June of 2020.
SCRIPPS
E.W. Scripps has named J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., as executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He most recently was the executive director of the Simon Youth Foundation in Indianapolis.
SCRIPPS
Richard Steiner was named head of digital for the new national television division of E.W. Scripps, Scripps National Networks. A longtime Turner executive, he helped build the Watch TCM and FilmStruck streaming services.
UNIVISION
Beatriz Pedrosa-Guanche was tapped as senior VP, corporate communications at Univision Communications in Miami. She has served in senior positions with Apple, Burson-Marsteller, Brazil Telecom of America and Verso Technologies.
WARNER BROS.
Kristy Chan was named senior VP, marketing and publicity, unscripted television at Warner Bros. Television, leading all marketing and communication initiatives. She was VP, publicity, at TBS, TNT and truTV.
BRIEFLY NOTED
Other industry execs making moves
Caroline Persinger has rejoined ACA Connects as grass roots manager of the industry organization. Also, ACAC promoted Tomeika Slappy to assistant to the president and CEO from executive assistant. … Crown Media Family Networks also promoted Danielle Mullin to senior VP of brand marketing and ad sales marketing from senior VP, marketing; Leilani Gushiken to senior director of brand production from director of EPK and gallery production; Joe Kordash to senior director of brand motion graphics from director of creative design; and Lyn Smith to senior director of brand editing from supervising editor. … NBC Sports EDGE and PointsBet have added Sara Perlman as a sports betting host and content creator. Perlman had hosted Talk the Line for Fox Sports during the 2020 NFL season. … Brian Chisholm was promoted to senior VP, strategic partnerships at Los Angeles-based ad tech firm OpenX. … At Revolt, chief finance officer Colin McIntosh added duties as chief operating officer, and Deon Graham was promoted to chief brand officer, Combs Enterprises, from VP of digital.
